Free-look mode, Solo show, Alp galleri Peter Bergman, 3-25/5 2002.

Free-look Mode

Counter-Strike

The computer game Counter-strike is the world's most played online game right now (2002) with millions of players worldwide. The number of simultaneously connected players vary between 40000-100000. When one is connected to a Counter-Strike server, one chooses between playing as a terrorist or a counter-terrorist, and is placed in a team of simultaneously connected players who has chosen the same side. Except the mission relevant for the level (desarming bomb, rescuing hostages and so on) it's simply a matter of trying to eliminate the other team using different weapons, available for purchase before each round. When one of the teams have won, the game restarts with a new round.
When one is killed in the game, one has to wait until the round has ended to return to the game, and it is during this time one can choose to see the game progress in "Free-look Mode".

Free-look Mode

In "Free-look Mode" one is no longer tied to the framework of the game, but can move freely in and out of the 3d-graphics of the level. It's possible to soar high above the still "living" players, fly underground and through walls and mountains. Since the 3d-graphics of the level is constructed to be seen from "inside" of the level and since the level is limited in size, there is nothing to be seen "outside" of the level. In "Free-look Mode" these limitless areas without 3D-graphics are represented simply by blackness. Therefore, when one flies out of the graphics, the world is separated into both figurative 3D-environments and flat black fields. The 3D-graphics represents the world in which one used to 'live', and the black fields are the graphic card's rendering of the dimension beyond.
As still 'living', one is bound to the inside of the graphics. As 'dead', one can survey the logical construction of the entire level from both the inside and the outside. One is also able to chat with the other dead guys until reborn.